The blockchain sector is currently witnessing a pivotal development as Irys, formerly known as Bundlr Network is contemplating a substantial change in its strategy. The storage solution provider’s shift is directed towards Arweave, a key player in permanent storage solutions. This proposed shift includes a reset of the token supply and a departure from the existing data set, sparking intense discussions across the community.
Sam Williams, the founder of Arweave, addressed this issue in a tweet. He criticized Irys’s approach as anti-social forking, motivated by greed. Williams accused Irys of planning to drop the dataset and reset the token supply, betraying the trust users placed in them for uploading to Arweave. He emphasized the importance of forks in blockchain governance, stating they should build upon the existing state rather than destroying it. Williams pointed out that Arweave has an established protocol evolution mechanism, which Irys is choosing to ignore.
In response to Irys’s actions, Williams announced a new, free bundler compatible with Irys, available at up.arweave.net. This move aims to mitigate the impact on Arweave users, who may face significant delays in data availability due to the removal of Irys bundlers from Arweave’s trusted set.
Williams further elaborated on the evolutionary protocol guidelines of Arweave, likening them to a social constitution for blockchain networks. These guidelines include rules for evolutionary forking, such as carrying forward the network’s dataset and token supply and allowing forks to mint new tokens.
Irys, in a counter-statement, defended their stance. They criticized Williams for his actions, which they perceived as tyrannical and contrary to the open-source, permissionless nature of Arweave. Irys reaffirmed its commitment to providing users with unrestricted access to permanent data storage and maintaining a stance against censorship. They also highlighted their ongoing efforts in developing new technology and assured users that their current services would not be disrupted.
Additionally, Irys offered a solution for users experiencing difficulty due to Arweave.net’s actions, directing them to their hosted gateway at gateway.irys.xyz. They hinted at developing new provenance technology and other powerful new features, indicating a continued commitment to innovation in the blockchain space. Irys also emphasized its dedication to creating unconstrained access to permanent data for its users, countering Williams’ accusations and offering 1:1 help for those needing assistance in data retrieval.
